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Intervention for Infants at Risk for Autism

City:

Davis

State/Province:

CA

State/Province Full:

California

Country:

United States

The purpose of the proposed study is to demonstrate, for the first time, that interventions begun during the infant period can reduce, and perhaps prevent, autism symptoms in children at risk for autism. Specific aims: (1) To conduct a multi-site randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a parent-delivered early intervention for reducing autism symptoms in high risk infant siblings of children with autism, age 12-15 months. Sixty infants ages 12-15 months will be assessed at baseline and randomly assigned to the Early Start Denver Model parent intervention (ESDM) group or community-based treatment-as-usual (CT) group. Infants will be evaluated at the end of the intervention, and again at 2 years of age to assess the efficacy of the interventions; (2) To examine the efficacy of the ESDM intervention for optimizing parent interaction strategies that support social, affective, communicative, and play development; (3) To examine the efficacy of the ESDM intervention for improving parental quality of life; (4) To examine whether child factors, including imitation ability, social engagement, and joint attention, moderate the effects of both interventions; (5) To determine whether the effects of both interventions are mediated by the quality of parent-infant interaction. [BSRC]